WASHINGTON-Western Wireless Corp. and other investors today said they will ask the Cote d’Ivoire government to compensate them for having to shut down a U.S.-owned mobile-phone system in the African nation, following looting and strong-arm tactics by a shadowy businessman who U.S. investors claim was assisted by government and security officials.
At risk is a $40 million investment in Cora de Comstar, a GSM mobile-phone operator controlled by Western Wireless and the U.S.-based Modern Africa Fund. About $10 million of the investment is guaranteed by the Overseas Private Investment Corp., a U.S. government agency.
Western Wireless and MAF officials are working with the State Department to resolve the matter.
“We’re looking to increase the level of advocacy,” said Brad Horwitz, president of Western Wireless, at a press briefing Tuesday. “There are still tremendous opportunities to invest in Africa, especially Western Africa. But the continent may have to be taken off the table.”
Until a few years ago, Cote d’Ivoire was one of the most politically stable countries in Africa. But that changed in December 1999, when a military coup sacked President Henri Konan Bedie. Then in September 2002, a civil war broke out.
Western Wireless has a history of building mobile-phone systems in challenging emerging markets. Since 1996, the carrier has launched wireless systems in Slovenia, Georgia, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Bolivia, Haiti, Austria and Ireland.
